SAN JOSE — Bernal Plaza, a San Jose shopping center featuring stores such as Staples and Ross, has been bought by a Southern California investor in what experts say signals robust interest in South Bay retail sites.

Bison Partners paid $38.3 million for the retail hub, according to documents filed on Sept. 5 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office. The Lucky Stores supermarket site, owned by Lucky, wasn’t part of the property purchase.

“This shows there is still a lot of strength in retail in the South Bay,” said David Taxin, a partner with Meacham Oppenheimer, a commercial real estate firm that arranged the property deal. “This shopping center has always done very well.”

Trusts headed up by the Facchino and LaBarbera families of San Jose sold the shopping center, county and state

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